Nelson Mandela died this week.  He was truly an amazing man.  He was willing to fight apartheid in his native South Africa, and he felt strongly enough about this cause that he was willing to die for it.  Instead of killing him, the white government sent him to prison for 18 years.  When he finally got out, he resumed working toward the cause of a free, equal South Africa.

Each of us is regularly faced with small wrongs.  Hopefully, you will never be faced with an atrocity like apartheid, and hopefully you will never have to choose if a cause is worth dying for.  But, on a much smaller scale, we face similar choices almost every day.  When someone is being mean to another person, do you have the courage to tell them that what they’re doing is wrong?  Are you willing to risk people not liking you if you do what you know is right?

What about when people do bad things to you?  Whether it’s a teacher, your mom, or a kid at school, are you willing to stand up for yourself and your rights?  Are you willing to take the risk of a consequence for standing up for yourself?  If not; why not?  What are you afraid of?  In the long-term look at life, what will matter to you more; taking the consequence of doing the right thing, or living with the knowledge that you didn’t take any action when you knew in your heart that it was the right thing to do?

It’s hard to do the right thing.  I’m not saying it’s easy.  I know exactly how hard it is.  But, as I say a lot; the right choice is almost always the harder choice.  The next time you’re faced with someone doing something bad, whether they’re doing it to you or to someone else, will you have the courage to stand up for what’s right?  Are you willing to take the consequences of your actions?  What will you stand up for?